Torn By the War

Concealed in the centerfolds of some homes and lives of Liberian men and women who had their share of heartrending experiences during the Liberian war are bitter memories that have not been put to rest.

One of those memories is seeing the faces of those they loved so dearly being whisked away into helicopters and airplanes for untraceable asylum or refugee programs.

“My mother left on a refugee program for America more than 10 years ago. I was just a little girl then. I have not seen her in all of these years and can’t understand why I can’t find her on the face of this planet,” stated Sia, a Liberian living in Jendema near the Sierra Leone border with Liberia.

A taxi driver commonly known as Twin, residing in Jendema, is one of many Liberians living at the Sierra Leone, Liberia border to keep searching for their loved ones. He has for the past six years been searching for his only relative besides his wife and children, mother H. Ramour.

“Most of us refuse to move from here because we believe that one day they will come here or to Robertsport to look for us. There was a time I had contact with my aunt, she did everything for me all my life.

Then one day it just stopped, even the phone calls. I stopped hearing from her and there’s no way to find out why. I tried calling her number over and over again and it says it has been disconnected,” he explained.

Residents in Bo Waterside say they want 2016 to be a year of discovery and reunion for more than six families claiming that they have not seen their relatives since they last saw them boarding planes and ships at Robertsport.

Unlike Twin, a farmer and car loader at Bo Waterside, Cape Mount, Massaquoi, says he has had no contact with his family since they left over fifteen years ago on a refugee program.

“My wife Zeena Feika and my daughter Wei Swalley left from here without a trace. I should have gone with them, but the program took too long to go through so I left the family to go and farm for food. I came back and never saw them again,” he said.

Meanwhile, with the lack of internet services in parts of Cape Mount and little knowledge on how to use the internet, residents have been unable to search online for their loved ones. They are requesting that Restoring Family links, ICRC delegation in Monrovia responsible for helping families find their missing loved ones, come to their aid.

“I don’t even have a picture of them because the war was on and there were no happy faces, no camera man in sight. So I’m wondering, how I will find my family,” Massaquoi said.

Anyone having knowledge of a missing relative H. Ramour who may have gone out of Liberia on a refugee program is asked to call Twin at 0886-371-735.

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